Hades
'''Hades' was the Olympian God of the Underworld. He is surpassed in eminence only by his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon although it is possible that Hades is considered equal to Poseidon. He is the oldest son of the Titans Cronos and Rhea and husband of Persephone. He was also a minor supporting character in God of War and a major antagonist in God of War III '' where he was eventually confronted by his nephew, who after a fierce duel, tore off the god's helmet before killing him by absorbing his soul with his own weapons. Greek Mythology Hades was the ancient Greek god of the Underworld and the brother of Zeus, but his name was shared with the abode of the dead. In Greek Mythology, Hades was the first son and fourth child of Cronos and Rhea. According to myth, he along with his younger brothers Zeus and Poseidon defeated the Titans in battle and took over rulership of the cosmos; ruling the Underworld, Sky, and Sea, respectively; the solid earth, the long province of Gaia, was available to all three concurrently. He was also called "Plouton" (Greek: meaning "Rich One"), a name which the Romans Latinized as ''Pluto. The Romans would associate Hades/Pluto with their own chthonic gods, Dis Pater and Orcus. The corresponding Etruscan god was Aita ''and the corresponding Canaanite god was Mot. Symbols associated with him are the Helm of Darkness and the three-headed dog, Cerberus. In the ''God of War Series The First Titanomachy Hades appears in cutscenes in God of War II, during the Great War, when the Gods defeated the Titans. He is seen fighting his father Cronos trying to take Cronos's soul until Atlas comes and uses a ground attack on Hades to save Cronos. This causes Hades to turn his attention to Atlas and with his brother Poseidon coming to help him Hades is able to take Atlas's soul placing it within him thus defeating the Titan leader. After the Titanomachy he becomes a prominent figure among the Gods as there is a statue of him in the Garden of the Gods along with Athena, Ares, Zeus, Helios, and Poseidon. At the end of the game he is seen with Poseidon, Helios and Hermes standing in front of Zeus, before the second Great War (when Kratos uses the Loom of Fate to rescue the Titans before they were defeated and imprisoned in the first Great War) begins. Wager of the Gods In the comics, Hades is seen in flashbacks competing in the wager of the Gods, a contest in which Gods choose various mortals as their champions, with the goal being the capture of the healing elixir known as Ambrosia. Hades chose Alrik, a warrior who sought to capture the Ambrosia in order to save his ill father, as his champion. After which, in fear that Kratos may best his champion, Hades sent a torrent of great fires from the sky onto Kratos' army. He was still able to kill Kratos. After Alrik was defeated by Kratos and torn apart by Rocs, Hades revived him and sent him to destroy the Spartan who defied him. After being saved from death, Alrik then discovered that his beloved father had died, and so, the new Barbarian King vowed to exact vengeance on Kratos. Kratos' Tiring of Ares In God of War: Ascension, Ares, the God of War, sent The Furies to capture Kratos and imprison him in a Titan-sized prison for the living damned, where he is tortured for months on end, driven insane, and constantly haunted by the visions of the night he lost everything dear to him. Fueled by a desire for revenge against Ares, along with a need to redeem himself among Hades to earn salvation, Kratos manages to break free of his imprisonment and sets out on a journey to kill the Furies. If he can successfully defeat them he can sever all ties to Ares without consequence. Persephone's Betrayal In God of War: Chains of Olympus, one of the final challenges is called Challenge of Hades. Hades himself does not appear, although Kratos does enter his realm of the dead, the Underworld. Hades does, however, play a background role, as husband to Persephone, the main antagonist of the game. Persephone doesn't love him but is forced to remain in his dark realm. Because of this, she had chosen to end both her life and that of the Gods by freeing Atlas and commanding him to kidnap Helios, the God of the Sun, from the sky and use his power to destroy the Pillar of the World. Aiding Kratos In God of War, he manifests in Pandora's Temple in a translucent form, like the other gods, and gives Kratos a magic called the Army of Hades. Only his fiery, demonic face is seen. There is also a giant statue of him in the section of the Temple called The Challenge of Hades, as well as another statue of Hades alongside Zeus and Poseidon in Pandora's Box's Elevator. Moving in Shadows While Hades doesn't appear in Betrayal, he is, again, a background character. When Kratos starts chasing the mysterious Assassin, the Undead Legionnaires and Cerberus appear from Underworld to stop him. Kratos wondered why Hades sent these beasts to attack him, speculating that Hades is the one who is plotting to ruin Kratos' relationship with the other gods. This would have made sense since Hades already had a legitimate reason to hate Kratos for the death of his wife Persephone. (Note: Betrayal is not considered part of the canon.) The Second Titanomachy Hades is first seen amongst the congregation of Gods on Mount Olympus, dropping down to join Hermes and Helios in the battle against the Titans saved and led by Kratos scaling the mountain. He is briefly seen dislodging his uncle Oceanus from the mountain after Kratos disabled one of the Leviathans attacking Gaia. Kratos encounters Hades personally in the Underworld, who seeks to prevent him from escaping again. After first entering, Hades periodically comments Kratos' actions, often in a sarcastic, humorous or taunting tone of voice. As soon as Kratos enters his Palace, Hades takes a more hostile stand, claiming he senses "some bad blood" between them. Before the battle, Hades reminds Kratos how he has wronged him in the past, by killing Athena (his niece), by killing Poseidon (his brother), and especially Persephone, his wife and "Beautiful Queen". Hades then threatens, "I will see you suffer as I have suffered! Your soul is mine!". Emerging from the darkness, Hades immediately attempts to steal Kratos' soul but fails. An intense battle ensues, during which Kratos and Hades do battle with their respective chain blades. Eventually, the blades become entangled, and Hades attempted to pull Kratos into the River Styx. Eventually, Kratos gains the upper hand and uses both weapons to form a noose around Hades' neck, repeatedly slamming his uncle's head into the ceiling and knocking him into the River Styx seemingly killing him. From this, Kratos obtains the Claws of Hades allowing him to steal souls. Eventually, a significantly bigger Hades bursts out of the river using the soul to maintain him self, no longer sporting his helmet, revealing a deformed, devilish, cracked skull. Death After a fierce duel Kratos manages to rip out his soul, using his own Claws killing the God of the Underworld once and for all. As Hades' rule of the Underworld lifts, the tormented souls of the Styx swarm over Hades, dragging him into the depths of the river. Kratos, in possession of Hades' soul, is now free to traverse the River Styx unharmed. As a result of Hades' death, the souls of the dead that reside in the Underworld were able to roam freely, with many escaping the Underworld itself. After diving into the river, the godly possession, Hades' helmet, can be retrieved at the bottom, near the point of entry. It then becomes available during Bonus Play. Before leaving, Hades' corpse can be seen at the bottom of the Styx, mutilated, as the tormented souls tore a passage through his gut to escape the river. Swimming through Hades' now open torso, Kratos follows them and returns to The Forge of Hephaestus, the Blacksmith God. Hephaestus asks how Kratos could be alive and if "Lord Hades" rules no longer, to which Kratos responds, "The God of the Underworld is dead!" Hephaestus is shocked by this and states that he thought that the death of Hades was impossible, to which Kratos responds, "Olympians overestimate themselves." Hephaestus replied, "I will keep that in mind, Spartan". Multiplayer Hades is one of the four god mentors of God of War: Ascension's Multiplayer. His statue is the second one in the Rotunda of Olympus. Overview Warriors aligned to Hades have great physical powers (being rivaled only by warriors of Ares) and''' increased cooldown reduction', too, but '''lack defenses' (again, only being less weak than Ares). But these are not their best advantages: being considered the best Multiplayer allegiance many times, the secret of these warriors is their ability to steal health from enemies and specialty in escape and stealth techniques. A particular item offered by the Underworld God is Hades' Helmet, which allows players to stay invisible from other players for some time. Warriors of Hades are literally the living nightmare to anyone from the opponent team when fighting seriously, and must focus on using surprise attacks in order to have an advantage in battle. Before taking strong blows, they can use their items to perform effective escapes and when injured, they can also use their magic to drain nearby enemies' vitality. Assassin Stealth abilities. Soul Magic Drains vitality from opponents. Hades Items Reduce cooldown and increase mobility. Hades Weapons Can drain health from enemies and perform surprise attacks in certain special attacks. Hades Armors Focus on increasing cooldown reduction. Powers and Abilities As the ruler of the Underworld and everything that resides within it, Hades is both the oldest of his siblings and one of the most powerful of the Olympian Gods surpassed only by his brothers Zeus and Poseidon. Hades is naturally a force to be reckoned with by any being who is foolish enough to anger him. His will alone is the absolute authority in both the gloomy realm itself as well as all other areas that are under his control; Nothing happens in the realm without his knowledge of it. *'Chain Manipulation': Hades could manipulate the Claws of Hades with high precision and proficiency. He could teleport the claws, attacking people over long distances and at high speed, as well cover whole areas with his chains. *'Death-Force Manipulation': Hades could kill or manipulate death forces to his will and since he was the God of the Underworld, he had secondary authority and representative of death; the primary authority and representative of death was Thanatos, God of Death, who was killed by Kratos for killing the Spartan's brother Deimos. It is unknown whether Kratos now represented death, but all death forces the Spartan had were reclaimed by Hades, The Underworld God. *'Immortality': Like all Gods, Hades was immortal, and could not be slain by mortal means. *'Invisibility': Despite not using it in battle, he possibly used it when Kratos entered his palace where he wasn't able to be seen in the dark and walks right in as opposed to fall from the ceiling during the battle. *'Invulnerability': Hades was invincible to certain forms of attacks, all mortal weapons, and able to take significant amounts of force. Kratos only managed to defeat him by ripping his own soul out of his body and had to destroy the pieces of flesh he tore from Hades twice, lest the Ruler of the Underworld keep recovering. *'Necromancy': As the ruler of the Underworld, Hades has absolute control over the souls of the dead and his world, to the degree where he was able to gift them to worthy mortals, Hades can also instantly steal souls from mortals or magical beings from afar. The best example of this is seen when Hades stole Atlas's soul and absorbed it. While Kratos traversed the dangers of Pandora’s Temple, Hades gifted him with the souls of the Underworld to aid him in his journey. These souls are much stronger if they are summoned from the deepest depths of Tartarus. These souls can viciously maul Kratos’ enemies to death, or weaken them enough for him to finish them off. *'Power Bestowal': Followers of Hades are granted a fraction of Lord Hades' powers and become Warriors that literally fight with Spirit. They are capable of using their abilities to steal life force from others and emit dangerous elemental attacks that target the Soul of another enemy. Followers of Hades can also use teleportation to surprising his enemies and can also use stealth to become invisible or become spirits to protect themselves temporarily. They are capable of summoning a few hands of Hades to aid them in battle. Due to Hades granting these powers they should be able to replicate them (some of which they did) on a smaller scale. *'Pyrokinesis': In the comics, he was capable of launching massive fireballs, indicating his ability of Pyrokinesis. Likewise when really hurt by Kratos during their battle, his realm would ignite with a burning inferno, this is possibly due to his connection to phlegethon, the river of fire in the underworld. *'Regeneration': Hades possessed great regenerative powers, such as when Kratos ripped a piece of his flesh out, he could heal himself simply by placing the flesh back, he is also capable of regenerating by stealing the life force of others. *'Shapeshifting': Hades could also shapeshift, which he demonstrated during his battle with Kratos, as he increased his size throughout the battle, eventually growing to the size of a giant. This was also shown during the Great War of the Gods and Titans. *'Soul Removal': Hades, using the Claws of Hades, could remove the soul of any living being: mortals, beasts, fellow gods and even Titans. **'Soul Absorption/Soul Empowerment': Every removed soul can be absorbed by the user of the Claws of Hades, bestowing certain abilities on the user or increase their power. This allowed Hades to become more powerful, with every taken soul. **'Soul Materialization': Hades was able to summon souls to attack his enemies, fighting for him. This ability was even more outspoken, when he used the claws, as he could use it to summon the souls of powerful monsters, utilizing their abilities briefly. *'Superhuman Agility': Despite his appearance, Hades is quite agile, being able to scale down Olympus with his Claws alone and being able to back-flip over Titans who are taller than skyscrapers with no effort. *'Superhuman Durability:': Hades should have a similar level of durability that Ares possesses, he also recovered from one of Atlas' Earthquake attacks with no injuries. *'Superhuman Stamina:': Hades showed no sign of fatigue in his battle with Kratos or during the battles with the Titans. *'Superhuman Strength': As a God, Hades has super strength, his strength is incredible, able to overpower Titans with ease, and match Kratos in battle. While scaling Mount Olympus, Hades pulled down a Titan with one heave. While fighting Kratos, Hades' stomps were enough to create shockwaves. *'Telekinesis': Hades possessed great telekinesis, he was able to make the flesh Kratos tore out of him move back to him. *'Teleportation': Hades could teleport from Olympus, the Underworld and to mortal world. *'Umbrakinesis': Hades was also able to manipulate and control shadow and darkness as he demonstrated in his fight with Kratos. Hades could also breath dark energy from his mouth. Personality Unlike his brother Zeus and many of the other Gods of the series, Hades is mostly unconcerned with the affairs of the mortal realm, preferring to focus his energies on the Underworld. He is, however, quick to anger if someone crosses him or his family, which makes him an enemy of Kratos. As Kratos is traveling through his palace, Hades comments that there is bad blood between them, as Kratos had murdered his niece (Athena) and his brother (Poseidon). He also appeared to have deeply cared for Persephone, despite her words and treachery. Indeed, he has restored her remains and created a massive memorial to her. He doesn't comment on the loss of his nephew Ares, indicating that Hades, much like the other gods, did not care much for Ares. This means that, unlike most of the other Gods, Hades cared for his family. Hades had a sinister, sadistic, mock-playful humor, evident in the way he taunts and intimidates Kratos throughout the Underworld. This is similar to the mythological Hades, who often gave out ironic punishments to particularly unfortunate souls. He also appears to be a masochist, as even when Kratos beats him senseless and tears away chunks of flesh, he claims to enjoy the pain. Like most Olympians, he has no respect for the mortals he has shown in the wager of the gods. He sent a plague to Alrik's father to force him to compete in the wager just for his own amusement and when he lost he convinced Alrik to seek revenge on Kratos, unintentionally setting in motion the events of the series. Gifts and Objects * Army of Hades: Given to Kratos after defeating Pandora's Guardian. * Shield of Hades: Used in Pandora's Temple, with the Shield of Zeus, to progress further into the temple. * Claws of Hades: After Kratos bashes Hades' head through the ceiling, he takes away his claws, using them to extract his soul and exacting his revenge. * Hades' Helm: Swimming down the River Styx to the very bottom at point of entry, and retrieving the Helm, will grant use of this Godly Possession in Bonus Play. *Soul of Hades: Allows Kratos to swim in the River Styx and allows Kratos to pass through the portals required for entry (the soul of a God). Trivia * The most likely reason Hades' appearance changed drastically from God of War to God of War II is that the game developers may not have expected the series to pan out the way it did, and may not have planned out much beyond the first game. When fleshing out the entire storyline, they most likely wanted to give each God a look and personality unique to the God of War series, compared to the designs in the original God of War; another reason that his appearance changed can be put down to one simple fact - Hades is a god, and presumably he can change his appearance at will to suit his needs. This can be proven between God of War II and God of War III: at the end of God of War II, he was smaller than his fellow gods and had greyer skin, while in God of War III, his skin was red and his size was equal to that of his brethren. Another possible explanation is that his demonic appearance was how his face looked beneath his helmet, before being wounded by Kratos during the boss battle. * Many modern adaptations of Hades often tend to portray him as corrupt, greedy, or evil, similar to the underworld gods of other mythologies or the fallen angel Lucifer/Satan from the Bible. In Greek mythology, however, Hades was not inherently evil, and was in fact portrayed as more passive than evil. He merely gained the unpopular position of being lord of the dead after drawing lots with his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon. Over time, however, living in the underworld made a recluse out of him, and ancient myths do not count him among the Twelve Olympians, as Hades spent most of his time away from Olympus tending to the dead. He was also portrayed as very strict, especially when it came to letting the living in, or the dead out, of his kingdom. * The Evil from Pandora's box that infected Hades was most likely wrath; evidenced by his desire to have his revenge on Kratos for killing his family members. * The same statue of Hades, in his horrific visage in God of War, appears in God of War III whilst Kratos is in the Underworld, and in God of War: Ghost of Sparta, in the Hades arena setting. * Many confuse Hades with Thanatos, the personification of Death. Hades was the ruler and judge of the dead, but not the god of death itself. * Hades was one of the few gods to remain faithful to their spouse. He, in fact, won Persephone over with gifts after having abducted her. She was only abducted as Demeter, her mother, did not agree to the marriage. * During the fight in God of War III, Hades uses an attack similar to what Persephone did in Chains of Olympus, where they would conjure items from the ground; the only difference is that Persephone summoned light in her battle while Hades summoned chains in his. * PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale features Hades as a background character, where his domain is invaded by the Patapon army. He also interacts with the players fighting in the foreground. * Hades serves as one of the mentors for God of War: Ascension multiplayer. * His masochistic nature and his claims about pain are quite similar to Pinhead from the Hellraiser franchise. Other similarities are his weapons, the Claws of Hades, which are a like to Pinhead's hooks; the fact he can pull out someone's soul as contradiction to Pinhead famous quote: "I will tear your soul apart." The spikes on his back are similar to the spikes driven in Pinhead's head. * Hades shares the line "Your soul is mine" with the villain Shang Tsung of the Mortal Kombat franchise. * The voice actor for Hades in the first game was Nolan North. * Clancy Brown, the man who voiced Hades, is famous for his roles as Dr. Neo Cortex from the Crash Bandicoot series, the Kurgan from Highlander, Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants and Lex Luthor from Superman: The Animated Series. Hades is similar to the Kurgan during his fight with Kratos, fighting savagely and giving sadistic taunts. * It is currently unknown why Hades gave Kratos the Army of Hades as he hated him for killing Persephone. This could be because he had put aside his grudge to help Kratos destroy Ares or that his feeling towards Kratos for killing Persephone were quite neutral, knowing the Spartan had no other choice. However, when Wrath infected him, it amplified his suppressed feelings of hatred towards the latter. It could also be due to the fact Kratos was under Zeus' and Athena's protection. * Because he is one of the oldest of his siblings, Hades suffered longest inside of his father Cronos which would explain his grotesque appearance. The case may be the same for Hestia, one of his sisters. * The reason for his cracked skull may be due to his head being repeatedly smashed against the ceiling during his fight with Kratos. He was shown to fight without hindrance when chunks of his own flesh had been cut out of his torso, so it's possible he could have fought all the same even with the damage. * Hades and Helios are the only major gods in all the games to not have any children. * When Kratos told Hephaestus that Hades was dead, he replied that he thought the death of Hades impossible. This might either imply that Hades was harder to kill because of his rule over the afterlife and was only defeated because Kratos pulled his soul out, or allude to the fact that "Olympians overestimate themselves" (Kratos' immediate response). * Hades was one of the few gods whose body didn't disappear after being killed by Kratos. The others are Helios and Hera. * Hades' Helm, his Godly Possession, is coherent with the original Greek mythology, since Hades possessed a helmet which could make the user invisible. * Hades and Persephone are the only Gods in the Greek series to be killed by the Ghost of Sparta while in the midst of combat. Every other God is weakened by Kratos beforehand before he delivers the final blow. Gallery Hades God of War.jpg 11 AndrewKim Hades rough.jpg 12 AndrewKim Hades.jpg AndyPark GOW3 48.jpg Godofwar 04 jpg.jpg Hades-Steals-Kratos-Soul.jpg|Hades trying to grab Kratos' soul hadesgow3.jpg KlLML.jpg Ss preview 11 jpg.jpg Untitled 121.png Untitled 125.png|Hades During The Great War Atlas 11.png|Hades stealing Atlas' soul Untitled_HADES_2.png|Results after Hades' death Untitled 313.png Untitled HADES 1.png|Kratos stealing Hades' soul Hades b-w.jpg hades comics.jpg|Hades as seen in the comics Hades.JPG Hades 2.jpg Kratos-killin-hades.jpg Kratos standing in front of hades.jpg Desert.jpg|Hades raining death on Kratos and his army. hadesvelv1117.png|Hades Effigy in GoW: Ascension Battle Armor of Hades.jpg Video Related Pages *Underworld *Persephone *Claws of Hades *Army of Hades *Statue of Hades *Hades' Helm *Cerberus de:Hades de:Hades Category:Bosses Category:Greek Gods Category:God of War Category:God of War II Category:God of War III Category:Enemies Category:Characters Category:Allies Category:God of War: Ascension Category:God of War Series Category:Multiplayer Category:The Great War Category:God of War (Comics) Category:Males Category:Deceased Category:Immortals Category:Greek Mythology